Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 3,949 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,000,384 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,949 shares during the quarter. American Electric Power accounts for about 0.6% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $92,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price target on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.23.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AEP opened at $105.84 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $109.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $56.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.